College notepad
By Joel Buchsbaum, Contributing editor
Sunday, Oct. 24, 1999
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| Almost every college quarterback would benefit from staying in school for
the maximum number of years he is eligible to participate. For example, let’s take
three rookie quarterbacks from the 1998 draft. Ryan Leaf came out after three years
at Washington State, Charlie Batch stayed the maximum number of years at Eastern Michigan
and Brian Griese stayed the maximum number of years at Michigan. While Leaf is now
viewed almost as a bust, both Batch and Griese are starting. If not for their last seasons
in college, both Batch and Griese might have even gone undrafted. Other examples of
quarterbacks who came out early and were busts are Andre Ware and Heath Shuler. It will
be very interesting to see if Georgia Tech QB Joe Hamilton gets drafted. Hamilton
at best is 5-foot-10, but right now he looks like the probable Heisman Trophy winner and
is the best, or at least the most valuable, player in college football. His style is a lot
like Doug Flutie’s, with some Charlie Ward thrown in. Hamilton’s arm strength is
much more comparable to Ward’s than to Flutie’s, and that is what really worries
some scouts. Just to refresh your memory, Flutie’s arm was rated as above-average for
the NFL, while Ward’s was rated as marginal.
Penn State DE Courtney Brown is probably the best defensive player in college
football today, while teammate LaVar Arrington is the most spectacular. So
Arrington, who is flamboyant, gets the headlines, while Brown gets more votes of approval
from coaches and scouts. Nevertheless, it would not be a shocker if they go 1-2 in next
year’s draft.
When a team like Illinois can come back from a huge deficit and beat Michigan, you have
to wonder if parity really has arrived in college football. At least this season, it does
not seem as though there are any dominant teams out there. Penn State just barely managed
to beat Purdue, and Clemson gave Florida State all that it could handle and might have
even pulled the upset if its kicker had been a little better. In the Pacific-10,
everything is topsy-turvy. Oregon State totally destroyed UCLA, and Stanford beat USC.
Right now it looks as if Stanford is going to the Rose Bowl — the same Stanford
team that Texas annihilated and San Jose State beat.
The way certain teams such as UCLA have collapsed makes you wonder how important one or
two players can now be to a college football team. With Cade McNown at quarterback,
UCLA seemed able to outscore almost everyone the past two years. This season without him,
the Bruins have had a meltdown on offense and don’t appear to be any better than they
were on defense.
Virginia Tech has probably been the most dominating team in the nation because of its
defense, but the Hokies really have not played a very demanding schedule. Thus, they may
not get tested until their bowl game. And if Penn State, Florida State and Virginia Tech
end the regular season undefeated, the Hokies could be the odd team out for the
championship game in the Sugar Bowl. |
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The Archives
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| Season in review —
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